A Dutch company Vivera claims to have created a 100% vegan steak which smells and tastes so good that the consumers are barely able to tell if its real or not. It is made with soy and wheat. The vegan steak is the result of one and a half years of trial and error as Vivera’s experts were working hard to bring a 100% vegan streak to market. While making the steak in such a way that the consumers get the smell and taste right was a great challenge, getting the right texture of the steak was also challenging.
Making a steak with plants which gives the right taste when you chew it is not an easy task. Gert Jan Gombert, commercial director at Vivera said, “Bite and steak-like structure were the most challenging aspects to replicate. It needs to have some pressure against the teeth as well as a juiciness. We spent a lot of time to get the juiciness that flows with beef,” Gombert added, “A large group of vegetarians, vegans, and flexitarians has been very interested in such a product for years. With the breakthrough of its market introduction and large-scale production, a large group of consumers can enjoy this very tasty plant-based product. The smell, taste, and bite can hardly be distinguished from real steak and we are convinced that this product will meet a large need of consumers. The smell, taste, and bite can hardly be distinguished from real steak and we are convinced that this product will meet a large need of consumers.”
Vivera calls its plant-based steak “ground-breaking in terms of animal welfare and sustainability” and also a way to get meat eaters consume more plant protein. The company has also announced its plans to bring millions of vegan steak to market in 2018. The British supermarket giant Tesco is considered the first retailer in the world which is selling Vivera plant-based steaks in nearly 400 of its stores across the UK. The stores in the Netherlands will begin selling the vegan steak in June. In Germany, France, and Italy, it is expected to be available in the second half of this year. So far, there is no information if Vivera intends to start selling the steak in the US or not.
Gombert said, “As a skeptic, I have to admit that this thing doesn’t look half bad in the pictures Vivera released, but we’ll have to wait and see how it actually tastes. As for how it’s cooked, it’s even simpler than actual steak.” He added, “Our steak is one you can’t mess up. Everyone can cook it really well, keeping the juices in – unless you cook it for half an hour.”